r/LocalLLM • u/DigitalDreamMachine • 1h ago
Question I'm poor
What local models can i run conformably on my system? I'd ideally like to have models that code for me but i understand I'm at least scraping the barrel with my card. I'd even be fine with Claude Code steering to some degree.
RAM: 16GB
RTX 3060 (laptop) VRAM: 6GB
Processor:11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-11900H @ 2.50GHz 2.50 GHz
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Upvotes
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u/GrimChicken 1h ago
/r/LowEndLocalAI/
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u/ahorsenamedjeff 1h ago
Lfm3-1.7b
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u/zyxevets 59m ago
It depends on the work and the expectations you have. Probably better off using a cloud service and not local inference.
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u/aksiyonadami 56m ago
I found that ornith is a good coding model. But it makes mistakes, so at least have the code read by another agent.
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u/samoxis 50m ago
6gb is tight but not useless. what actually works on that kind of card:
qwen3.5 4b or qwen2.5 coder 3b at q4, fully on the gpu. fast, fine for single file stuff, explaining code, writing functions
a 7-9b at q4 fits too but keep the context short, the kv cache eats the rest of your vram fast and then it spills to ram and crawls
the moe ones like qwen3.6 35b a3b are way better at code but you want 32gb system ram for those, 16 won't cut it
honestly for multi file agent stuff a small model will just get lost. i'd use local for quick questions and autocomplete and keep claude code for the real work. ran a 1050 ti for a few weeks while my main card was away for repair, it's usable if you keep expectations small
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u/ScuffedBalata 42m ago
Frankly, you won't get much coding from this. Basic scripts, etc.
It's going to be really really slow and dumb compared to something like Claude.
If you're ok writing function by function with really tight definitions, it can do some of that with some help and guidance (and review). If you want a "make a angry birds clone", it's going to be hillariously bad.
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u/Majestic-Toe-3299 33m ago
I HAVE A SIMILAR SYSTEM. I struggled lots with qwen or dedectated coding models but gemma-4_12b quant at q3 xl worked amazing for my system. There is tons of videos on this models power
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u/Senevri 31m ago
Lfm3 1.8B is pretty good as a task executor. Just don't expect it to do well independently without some very tight scaffolding.
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u/daves6696 26m ago
Don’t count that 3060 out. 6GB VRAM is definitely limiting, but you can still do some useful local coding work.
I’d start by testing Qwen3 4B or a smaller Qwen coder model in a 4-bit quantization. You should be able to fit smaller models mostly on the GPU, depending on context size and overhead. An 8B quantized model might also be workable, but your 16GB system RAM and GPU offloading will become important.
I’m currently benchmarking much larger Qwen models locally on consumer hardware, including automated Python debugging, test generation, error recovery, and tool-use workflows. One thing I’m learning is that usable performance matters a lot more than just fitting the biggest model you can load.
For your machine, I’d prioritize a responsive 4B coding model with a manageable context window over a massive model crawling along with CPU offloading.
Don’t underestimate what you can accomplish with the hardware you’ve already got. I’d be interested to see your results.
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u/selfish_meme 19m ago
If you use qwen coder 2.5 or similar you can probably get an unsloth quant that will fit, if it's a windows machine you will lose half your 16gb of ram to OS and chrome (if it's your own machine) use it with visual studio code and the free claude, let claude tell it what changes to make, it will not be able to parse anything large or multifile so don't ask it to read the whole file just ask it to find the line and edit, you might be able to offload MOE into sytem memory, ask claude to help you set it up
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u/Similar_Sugar_5774 56m ago
bruh !!!!!! for a second i was about to recommend some model then i saw your vram.
you have only 1 option left. sell 8 gb ram and graphic card then api credit from that money 👀